North Carroll stops Westminster

Win by No. 5 Panthers sets up showdown with North Carroll

Wrestling

High Schools

North Carroll's Kyle Littau looked across the mat last night at Westminster and saw an opponent he wasn't supposed to beat in the Owls' Nick Berger.

Don't tell that to Littau, though.

Littau proceeded to fall behind, 2-1, until he executed a reversal and pinned Berger 1:58 into the match, igniting the Panthers' bench. His effort pretty much matched the effort of his team, and Berger's loss pretty much reflected the frustration for the host Owls (3-5, 0-2) in North Carroll's 49-19 victory.

"I knew he was going to be tough," said Littau of Berger. "They weren't expecting me to pin him. I think that really helped the morale of our team. If I can do that, maybe they can do even better."

The No. 5 Panthers (10-0, 2-0) dominated from the start, getting a technical fall from Sam Shreck to defeat Josh Corkran at 103 pounds. That effort was followed up at 112 by Pat Maloff, who pinned Westminster's J.R. Landsman 4:48 into their match.

Up until then, the Owls hadn't scored a point. That was quickly fixed in the next match, when Adam Kenney, the Owls' best wrestler, decisioned Ross Bell, 4-0, at 119 pounds.

At 125, North Carroll's Tyler Graham had a tough time with the Owls' Ryan Miller and found himself losing, 5-4, midway through the second period. Miller tried an escape that backfired, and Graham pinned him 3:24 into the match. That was pretty much the beginning of the end for the Owls.

"I was letting the match come to me and just waiting for him," said Graham. "He made his move and I was able to get him on his back and pin him."

It was a tough night for the Owls, who only had victories by Kenney, Jason Brown at 140, Jon Burger at 160 and Steve Stultz at heavyweight.

"They're a physical team and they're very aggressive," said Westminster coach Henry Mohlhenrich, "but they didn't do anything that we haven't seen before. They have a good team, and a good team concept."

The victory sets up a showdown with No. 12 South Carroll at home next Friday for the Panthers. It's a match that most think will decide the county regular-season title.

"It's inevitable that we'll meet them, and probably for the county title," said North Carroll coach Brian Wetzel. "I don't want to look ahead, though. "